Shark Tale (2.5 out of 4)

Starring (voices) Will Smith and Robert De Niro. Directed by Vickey Jenson, Bibo Bergeron and Rob Letterman.

An animated underwater blend of The Godfather meets Jaws, Shark Tale contains some beautiful visuals but a tired and recycled premise. Then there's the stereotyping... geez.
The beautiful Reef is under attack by Great White Sharks, headed by godfather Lino (Robert De Niro) who controls the inhabitants (other ocean life) via puffer fish Sykes (Martin Scorsese). Lino has two sons: goodfella Frankie (Michael Imperioli) and wimp/vegetarian Lenny (Jack Black). When Frankie is accidentally killed while pursuing Sykes' whale-wash employee Oscar (Will Smith), Lenny runs away and masquerades as a dolphin. Oscar is mistakenly credited for having slain Frankie, and is now a hero in the Reef and very wealthy, much to the chagrin of lovelorn friend Angie (Renee Zellweger) who finds a rival in golddigger Lola (Angelina Jolie). But Oscar's good fortune takes a dip after he discovers that Lino is out for revenge.
Smith's jive-talking Oscar is tiresome and predictable; and even more unnerving is the heavy R&B, reggae and hip-hop bent (look for Ziggy Marley and Doug E. Doug as jellyfish) that is oddly out of place with the heavy-handed mobster theme.
The kids will get a kick out of the animation, but the mob thing will fly over their heads.

Publication Date: 2004-10-10
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4490